Luminous price sign



Aug. 14, 1934. L, F BROWN 1,970,124

LUMINOUS PRICE SIGN Filed Aug. 14, 1933 of [NVENTOR A TTORNE y PatentedAug. 14, 1934 .1

cNrrso srArss ATENT i 'ifi 4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in luminous pricesigns.

It is one of the principal objects of my invention to provide a simpleand efficient luminous price sign having clear legibility in the daytimeand at night, for attachment to gasoline pumps, light globes and otherobjects.

Another object of my invention is to provide a price sign which isilluminated cost free from a globe sign, for visibility at a greatdistance day and night. The light from the globe will shine through thesign, which may be backed with white coated, red glass, giving a whitenumber with a black back ground in the daytime, and an illuminated rednumber at night.

All character plates in the sign are interchangeable, and tax and cashdiscount characters may be added to them if desired.

Other important and incidental objects will be brought out in thefollowing specification, and particularly set forth in the subjoinedclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front view of a gasoline pumpto which my price sign is secured. Figure 2 is an enlarged front view ofthe price sign. Figure 3 is a cross sectional View taken through thesign on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. And Figure 4 is a longitudinalsectional view takenthrough one of the offset character plates.

Referring to the accompanying drawing for a detailed description of thevarious forms of embodiment of my invention, the numeral 1 in Figures 1,2 and 3 designates a gasoline pump casing to which a dial cover plate 2is secured by a bezel ring 3. Attached to the bezel ring 3 by screws 4is a bracket plate 5 formed with a central hole 6 to receive the socket7 of an electric light bulb 8, that is secured in the casing l.

Integral with the lower edge of the plate 5 are legs 9, 9 that receivethe screws 4, 4 and brazed, soldered or otherwise suitably secured tothe opposite sides of the bracket plate 5, are two outwardly inclinedU-shaped channel frames 10 and 11 which are secured at their outer endsby soldering or other suitable means to a narrow, central channel frame12 parallel with the bracket plate 5 to receive a removable opaque priceplate 13 and a transparent background member 14. The price plate 13 maybe punched as illustrated in Figure 2 to designate the cost of a numberof gallons from one to 15, at the price per gallon appearing on thecharacter plates 16 insertable in the channel frames 10 and 11.

Each character plate 16 formed with a die cut opening shaped torepresent a certain character,

is inserted in its respective channel frame in front of a transparentbackground member 17. The plates 16 are offset at one side edge so thatthese edges may have an overlapping fit between the characters.

On each side of the price plate 13, the plates 16 in Figure 2 containdie-cut slots that represent the price per gallon, in this instance 17cents. This price may be easily changed to con form with the prevailingrate per gallon by changing one, or both plates 16, on either side ofthe sign, and inserting a new total price plate 13 in the center channelframe 12.

When the proper price plates are inserted in the channel frames 10, 13and 11, the rays emitted by the bulb 8 will shine through thetransparent background members 17, 17 and the price plates in front ofthem, to produce a sharp, clear, luminous sign that may be read easilyfrom the front and the side at a distance. The back- 75. ground members17, 17 may be white-coated red glass to give a white number with a blackbackground in the daytime, and an illuminated red number at night. Asshown at Figure 2, the plates 13 and 16 are formed with integral topmarginal beads or flanges to effectively close the top open ends oftheir respective channel frames l0, l1 and 12. By these beads or flangesthe plates 13 and 16 may be easily removed when price changes are made.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A luminous sign for an illuminated fuel dispensing pump comprising asupport, an auxiliary source of light carried by said support, a pair ofoutwardly inclined channel frames secured to said support, a channelframe secured to the outer ends of the inclined channel frames inparallelism with the support and in front of said light source,transparent members insertable in the channel frames, interchangeableprice per unit plates formed with character shaped openings, insertablein the inclined channel frames in front of the transparent members, anda total price plate insertable in the middle channel frame in front ofthe transparent member therein.

2. A luminous sign for gasoline pumps, comprising a pump casing, a dial,a bezel ring for said dial, a bracket member secured to said bezel ring,an electric lamp bulb secured to said casing and above said dial, a pairof outwardly inclined channel frames secured to said bracket member, achannel frame secured to the outer ends of the inclined channel frames,in parallelism with said bracket member and in front of said bulb,transparent members insertable in the channel frames, interchangeableprice per gallon plates formed with character shaped openings,insertable in the inclined channel frames in front of the transparentmembers therein and in the path of the rays from said bulb, and a platedisplaying total prices at the price per gallon shown by the inclinedplates, insertable in the middle channel frame in front of thetransparent member therein.

3. A luminous sign for an illuminated fuel dispensing pump comprising asupport, an auxiliary light source carried by said support, a channelframe encompassing said auxiliary light source and attached to saidsupport, transparent members insertible in said channel'frame infront ofsaid auxiliary light source and interchangeable price plates formed withcharacter shaped openings insertible in said channel frame in front ofsaid transparent members.

4. A luminous sign in combination with a dial light for a fueldispensing pump, comprising a support, a meter dial carried by saidsupport, a light source above said dial, a pair of outwardly inclinedchannel frames secured to said support, a channel frame secured to theouter ends of the inclined channel frames in parallelism with thesupport and in front of and encompassing said'light source; transparentmembers insertible in the channel frames, interchangeable price per unitplates formed with character shaped openings, insertible in the inclinedchannel frames in front of the transparent members, and a total priceplate insertible in the middle channel frame in front of the transparentmember therein.

LAWRENCE F. BROWN.

